Fidel was a friend who at a difficult moment was with my family, with my father, and made it possible for me to return to my father, to return to Cuba, Gonzlez said.

He spoke as workers spruced up the Cuban capitals sprawling Revolution Plaza in preparation for two days of tributes.

Hundreds of thousands are expected to visit to pay their respects starting Monday in the shadow of Havanas towering monument to the independence hero Jos Mart and a huge sculpture of the revolutionary leader Ernesto Che Guevara.

A mass public ceremony is planned at the square on Tuesday. It is a great sorrow. Everyone is feeling it, said Orlando Alvarez, a jeweller who was fishing on the seaside Malecon boulevard in the morning. Everyone will be there.

Cubas government declared nine days of national mourning after Castro died and this normally vibrant city has been notably subdued. On Saturday night, the Malecon, Havanas social centre, was all but deserted, with dozens of people instead of the thousands who normally go to party there on weekends.

I have never seen this square so quiet, a Spanish tourist, Miguel Gonzlez, said as he took pictures of Revolution Plaza.